


Not all good men are heroes, not all heroes are good men.

by Truthwritaslies



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Fix-It, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-17
Updated: 2012-06-17
Packaged: 2017-11-07 23:47:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/436774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Truthwritaslies/pseuds/Truthwritaslies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Severus Snape didn't die in book 7. That doesn't mean he had a happy ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not all good men are heroes, not all heroes are good men.

**Author's Note:**

> The characters herein belong to JK Rowling and I am making no money off of this fic. It is purely for my own enjoyment.

Snape's a war hero and sometimes he wishes he had died of Nagini's bite. Mostly so he wouldn't have Potter looking at him with sad, knowing eyes; but also because he can't stand the idiots that think his secretly working for the light means he was never an actual death-eater. He almost welcomes the people who still revile him: the families of his victims, the students he allowed to be tortured when he was headmaster, certain ministry officials, his "test subjects". 

Mostly, he just wants to be left alone with his potions, memories and regrets. Snape wants to be able to get up at 7 am, look at the only photo of him and Lily in existance (they're ten and Petunia had gotten a new camera for her birthday) as he eats his breakfast and fill the orders he gets. He does the excercises the Medi-witch ordered him to do, but only because he would otherwise lose the use of his left arm completely and he takes a pain potion he made himself when he hurts so much he has flashbacks to the cruciatas. 

Some people wonder why Snape doesn't teach anymore. Some, but not many. It's quite simply that he has always hated teaching, unless it is a student who is not only interested in potions but also gifted. The fact that the board of governers made it quite clear that he was no longer welcome at the school was utterly beside the point.

He sees Potter about once or twice a year and regrets the weakness of nearly dieing that made him think it was a good idea to share those memories that made it so very clear how pathetic he was. To fall in love with the only girl he ever made friends with (real friends not the backstabbing kind like Bellatrix or the schemeing, manipulative kind like Narcissa) and never let go of it, even when it was obviously hopeless. 

Snape knows Potter hates his fame. Oh, he hasn't always known it; he didn't know when Potter had first come to Hogwarts and been surrounded by admirers and sychophants just like his father. He knows it now though. He can see the tiredness in Potter's eyes, the way Potter flinches if someone calls his name. He see the way Potter quickly glances around like a hunted rabbit before turning to answer whomever is approaching. Snape knows the feeling all too well. The feeling of a trap slowly closing on you, suffocating you and it's the kind where your own struggles make the trap close faster. 

However, Potter has made a life for himself. He has a wife, children and a job he enjoys. He has colleagues who respect him because they know that he isn't just "The Famous Harry Potter" and friends who make sure his ego never gets too big.

Snape has none of those things. By his own choice and actions he has doomed himself to have nothing but a photograph and his potions. The only accolades he gets are for his potions work. The only time he seeks out company is when he is invited to speak with other potion masters and, perhaps, collaborate on a potion. 

Snape tells himself he is content in his life and sometimes, in the split second between sleeping and awake, he is.


End file.
